Bakugo Pachisi
by EmeraldHeart1203
Summary: King Izuku Midoriya has been the just ruler of the kingdom of Musutafu for years, when a sorcerer known only by the name Tomura Shigaraki informs him of an evil spirit that lurks in a distant graveyard. Not one to let evil prosper, King Izuku takes on the challenge and tries to retrieve the spirit for Tomura to exorcise. Little does he know, Katsuki Bakugo won't be so vanquished.


Dark and dreary was the night on which King Izuku Midoriya stepped through the crematorium, suppressing each shiver that shook his being. Unbeknownst to anyone but the king himself, Izuku couldn't stand graveyards; the second and last time he had been in one had been to pay respects to the former king and his predecessor, King Toshinori Yagi of Musutafu. Before that, his only visit to a graveyard had been to see the dying ashes of his father in the crematorium, a merchant who had once served the former king.

Of course, this was a fact that Izuku had kept to himself for the sake of his kingdom. Musutafu may have been small, once, but even while expanding it, King Toshinori had made something clear to Izuku as his protégé: I smile to hide the fear inside me, and by seeing my smile, my people feel secure in their king's rule.

And Izuku had learned to follow suit. He'd learned, through months of difficulty and turmoil, to keep smiling no matter what, and it had indeed given the kingdom confidence in his rule as King Toshinori's successor, despite not being of his blood.

To Izuku, the musty air of the graveyard itself only strengthened his bond with the dead, his bond with Hisashi Midoriya and Toshinori Yagi; the only two men to whom he'd ever been close enough to warrant grief.

The king shook his head, chiding himself for allowing distractions to fill his head while he was still away from his chambers. _I am here for a purpose_, he reminded himself, looking around to see the man who had arranged this meeting.

* * *

_The first time the man came, he was dressed in peasant clothes and held a mere fruit to His Majesty, King Izuku, despite the rumours of his kingdom's wealth. There were whispers amongst the noblemen present, of people wondering who would dare to present such a cheap gift to the king, whispers of curses and mockery._

_Izuku paid the whisperers no heed. "Cease your gossip, courtladies," he said instead, and the noblemen quieted, abashed. "What is your name, good sir?"_

_The mendicant shuffled, avoiding eye contact with the king. His figure was stooped, his posture condemning him to a permanent bow. "Tomura Shigaraki, Your Majesty." His voice was curt, but his tone was respectful as he bore the pear to Izuku. "Thank you for accepting my gift." The man, Tomura, bowed, as King Izuku accepted the fruit as though it were a diamond._

"_Those thanks are mine to offer," Izuku replied simply, granting Tomura permission to leave as he kept the fruit to his side, and the processions continued._

_Tomura came again the following day to bear a single fruit to the king, then again the day after, for weeks. Each time, King Izuku gave the fruits to the royal storekeeper, Tsubasa._

_It was on a day when Izuku had fewer duties that he found himself playing with the mango Tomura had given him that day. It was the anniversary of the death of King Toshinori, and most of the townsfolk had chosen to grieve._

_It was then that the fruit dropped, while Izuku was lost in memories of his teacher and mentor, and immediately, a lone monkey swooped in to pick it up to eat. Upon taking a single bite of the fruit, the monkey threw down the seed—but as Izuku observed it, he realized that it was not a seed at all. The monkey had thrown down a ruby from the centre of the fruit._

_Izuku stilled as a thought occurred to him: _Have all these fruits had gemstones in them?

_Without hesitating for a moment, King Izuku made for the throne room, requesting the treasurer to call forth Tsubasa from the stores in order to check each fruit for any similar stones._

_Indeed, each fruit bore a ruby the size of an egg, and their colours were each the dripping crimson of a stained blade, a stunning red when filtering the rays of the Sun._

"_Please summon Tomura Shigaraki immediately." King Izuku's voice was firm despite the smile on his face that King Toshinori had taught him to keep._

"_How may I assist you, Your Majesty?" Tomura asked, head bowed and tone deferential._

"_Why have you bestowed such brilliant gifts upon us?" Izuku asked, his voice laced with gratitude. He hid the underlying suspicion, not wanting to make a foul impression on both the court and the man who had gone this far for Musutafu._

"_In truth . . ." Tomura's head tilted, and his face, which had been hidden by the hooded cloak he wore, lifted towards the king, allowing his eyes to be seen. Izuku noted that they were the same red as each brilliant ruby he had gifted Musutafu. "In truth, King Izuku"—he had addressed the king by name—"I would request your help with an endeavour I have been aiming to accomplish over the years."_

"_What may that be, then, Tomura?" Izuku asked, his smile still firmly in place. _Just like Toshinori.

"_I would tell you, Your Majesty, but the walls themselves have ears and my wish is far too private for the ears of more than two."_

"_Then so be it," Izuku said. He led Tomura out of the courtroom and into his private audience chambers. Even if he was the youngest king Musutafu had seen, he had his court's trust in private matters, so he knew that this would have few, if any, repercussions._

_Once the door was firmly shut behind the two, Tomura lowered his hood, revealing a scarred face that was alarmingly young. If anything, he was likely only a few years older than Izuku himself—barely an adult out of his teenage years. There was an additional scarred cut over his left eye, and another over his lip._

_Izuku felt a sudden surge of pity for the mendicant who had seemed to have gone through so much despite his young age._

_And then, Tomura spoke. "Your courage has been rumoured throughout the entire country," he began, his tone suddenly losing all signs of submission. Izuku felt almost like a guest in his own palace as Tomura's presence began to fill the room. "That is why I have come to Musutafu. Your predecessor, King Toshinori, was known as 'All Might' during his rule of Musutafu and was initially supposed to be the one I would ask to complete this task. However, now that he is dead"—Izuku almost flinched—"I have come to ask you, as you seem to have lived up to his name." Tomura scratched lightly at his neck, waiting for a response from Izuku._

_Izuku made himself assert his presence once again, resuming his role as the Musutafu's king. "And what, precisely, would this task be?"_

"_That's for you to find out if you should choose to accept. For that, you must meet me at the banyan tree in the centre of the cremation ground beyond the city, at night, on the fourteenth day of the dark half of the month." Without waiting for King Izuku to answer, Tomura left the chamber, disappearing into the darkness of the night._

_Izuku knew he would have to follow._

* * *

Which was what had led the famed King Izuku here, to the crematorium Tomura Shigaraki had summoned him to. Of course, he was curious to see what the man wanted, and he was quite pleased that it was his own prowess as king that had made Tomura come to him for help in the first place, but above all, he wanted to confirm his suspicions about him—how, for one thing, his presence seemed so much larger when they were alone, and whether or not he had actually sensed power and confidence in him.

And see whether that self-confidence Tomura seemed to possess was there for a reason. _And, should it be the case, prevent him from causing any harm to Musutafu._ Izuku's hand drifted closer to his sword as the howls of wolves and jackals began to resound as a glimpse of light blue hair entered his field of vision. Tomura.

Izuku straightened himself as he took a deep breath and stood to his full height as king. "What, pray tell, is this task you wish for me to complete?"

Tomura shrugged languidly, any sense of deference that had been present in the courtroom now gone. "It's not much," he drawled, "but there's a corpse in the graveyard area of this crematorium, at the northernmost point. It will be hanging on an ancient banyan tree, and its very presence is said to be cursing the area, bringing the nearby villages misfortunes and famine. I want to exorcise it." Tomura scratched the base of his neck before continuing, "But in order to do so, a king of valorous spirit must bring me the corpse, and I must perform various rites from over it."

Izuku's eyes narrowed. He'd never heard of a ritual like this. "Will it have any side effects?"

"Not any that'll make a difference to you," Tomura said blandly. "It'll grant me a boost in my own magic ability, but that's about it." Tomura met Izuku's eyes again, that burning red just as intense as Izuku remembered. "Do you accept, _King Izuku Midoriya_?"

Izuku thought about it. If Tomura was being honest, then there was nothing for him to lose. And besides, if there really was a spirit terrorizing a nearby village that was under Izuku's rule, it was his duty as Musutafu's king to save them. _It's what All Might would do_, Izuku decided. "I accept, _Tomura Shigaraki_."

Tomura grinned in response. "Good," he said, and it was punctuated with a rumble of thunder.

_It's raining_, Izuku noted, as Tomura seemed to disappear into the fog. If I'm going to get to that corpse, I'll have to start tomorrow.

So Izuku headed home.

* * *

He was preparing to leave the castle in the moments before dawn the next morning, when he found himself spotted by his Chief Advisor and former teacher, Minister Aizawa.

"Where are you going this early in the morning, Midoriya?" the minister asked, probing.

Izuku winced. _Of all times for Aizawa to wake up early, it had to be today?_ "A favour of sorts for another kingdom," Izuku explained evasively.

Aizawa sighed, too used to Izuku's shenanigans to question it. "Then, problem king, make it quick, before your subjects worry. Hizashi and I will take care of the kingdom until then."

Izuku smiled gratefully at Aizawa, thanking him profusely before disappearing into the twilight.

Little over an hour later, Izuku had reached the graveyard Tomura had mentioned, and, as promised, there was a corpse laying on the branch of a dying banyan tree in the centre.

If Izuku was honest, the corpse didn't really look like a corpse. He—Izuku decided that the corpse looked distinctly male—looked more like he was sleeping than dead, with his eyes closed and spiky blond hair that seemed to stand up on its own. Izuku briefly wondered whether if the corpse had been there for so long, it should have been rotting, but he supposed that with curses, anything goes.

_Here goes nothing_, Izuku thought, and dragged the corpse off the tree.

Much to his surprise, the corpse's eyes flew open, revealing a sharp red glare that was immediately directed at Izuku, as he scowled, rubbing his head. "Oww! What the fuck?"

Izuku froze in shock. Was this the wrong person? There weren't any other people on the tree, so did he get the wrong graveyard? Had he _seriously_ just yanked someone out of the tree they were sleeping in? And most importantly, _who naps in graveyards?_ "Y-you're _alive_?" Izuku sputtered.

The corpse—the _man_ rolled his eyes. "Does it _look_ like I'm alive to you, smartass?"

Izuku ignored the foul language in favour of taking a closer look at the man, and only then realised that his skin was lightly aglow, but translucent-grey, that the first trickles of sunlight didn't reflect off his eyes, and, most importantly, that his chest wasn't moving with the telltale motion of breathing. Something flipped in Izuku's stomach, seeing something _dead_ this . . . _animated_. It didn't make sense.

"That look on your face tells me that you're overthinking this. Look, nerd, if you're that King Deku that's up north of here, you've already seen a shit ton of crazy stuff in your life."

"_Deku_?" Izuku aked, miffed. Of course, he knew what the word meant—_useless_—and, yeah, he may not have had as much fame and may still be working up to live up to King Toshinori's legacy, he certainly wasn't _useless_—

"That's what the travellers that pass by here call you. Can't blame them for not having learned how to read properly with all the poverty and greedy tax collectors down here," the sort-of-dead corpse scoffed.

Izuku made a mental note to extend development towards the south and take a closer look into the area's management, then said, "My name is Izuku Midoriya."

The corpse grinned smugly. "You know, I think I like _Deku_ better."

_The sooner I can get him to that sorcerer Shigaraki_, Izuku thought_, the better._ "Fine, then, what's your name?" Izuku asked through gritted teeth. He was a _king_, for goodness' sake, not some errand boy!

"Ka—" the corpse began, but cut himself off. "Actually, I don't think I'll tell you. Names have a little too much power."

Izuku assumed that was fair enough. It was the reason King Toshinori had gotten the name _All Might_—he'd been such an impressive ruler that many had even started believing him to be sent from the heavens itself, so they'd given him a moniker to appease the gods and not invoke All Might's power.

"Kacchan, then," Izuku decided.

_Kacchan_ sputtered at that, clearly not in favour of the cutesy nickname, but he didn't complain. After all, he was the only one withholding his real name. "It couldn't have been something cool like, I dunno, _King Explosion Murder_?"

"You're not a king, Kacchan."

"_Lord_ Explosion Murder."

"You aren't a lord either. Plus, you're dead, so I don't know how you'd go about murdering people explosively," Izuku countered.

"Oi, I used to be a sorcerer too! I can blow shit up with my bare hands," Kacchan said, looking at his palm with something akin to nostalgia. As it was, he produced a significant explosion from his palms, enough to blow Izuku back a step. "This? This is only a fraction of my former power."

Izuku was mildly impressed, but he didn't let it show on his face. "Okay, Kacchan, look. I need you to come with me now so I can get you to this sorcerer who wants to exorcise you." Izuku didn't feel there was any point in lying to the corpse, so he laid all the facts out. Besides, he was strong. He could take on a dead man.

Kacchan scoffed. "So that's what the fucker told you. Well, you see, Deku, I don't really want to be exorcised. It's far more fun for me to hang around in here and have a go at the travellers that pass through here and shit their pants."

Izuku didn't say anything. Instead, he grabbed Kacchan by one of his legs and dragged him across the graveyard, fully prepared for the ghost's recoil.

Which he got, in the form of explosions aimed carefully to propel Kacchan away from Izuku, who just gritted his teeth and held on tighter. _Kacchan's skin is cold_, Izuku noted.

"Okay, fine," Kacchan interrupted, stopping his struggle for a moment. "Let's make a deal, then. You gotta carry me back, 'cause I can't stand on the land outside this graveyard, and I'll tell you a story in the meantime. You can't talk at all on the way back, or I'll go back to my tree. How does that sound, nerd?"

Izuku didn't hesitate. "If that's what it'll take you to cooperate." Besides, how hard could it be to keep quiet for an hour? All he had to do was keep his mouth shut and carry Kacchan back to Shigaraki.

Kacchan's grin could have frozen water. "Then, let's begin."


End file.
